The state jobs report released today showed that the number of unemployed Ohioans grew to 324,000 people, an increase of 1,000 from last month. The unemployment rate remained unchanged, while the state created 200 jobs. In response, State Representative and House Education Committee member Fred Strahorn (D-Dayton) released the following statement:

“This month’s jobs numbers reflect an economy that remains stuck in neutral. While the Governor continues to rely on his so-called economic development agency, the results continue to disappoint. Instead, the state must reverse the historic cuts made to local schools and invest more time and money into establishing an educated workforce. Educational attainment is crucial to putting Ohio’s economy back on track, and Ohio’s workforce will never flourish if we maintain our status as one of the least-educated states in the nation.”

Following months of negotiation, the Ohio House today passed Senate Joint Resolution 5, bipartisan legislation that puts a constitutional amendment before voters in May to restrict congressional gerrymandering in the state.

“After months of negotiation, thousands of Ohioans speaking out, and several false starts, we’re closer to stopping congressional gerrymandering today than we have ever been before. Though imperfect, this latest plan represents one of the most fundamental tenets of our American democracy – compromise,” said House Democratic Leader Fred Strahorn (D-Dayton). “We support this plan today, with the hope and expectation that it will help impart that same spirit and guiding principle of cooperation on Washington in the near future.”

Democratic House expressed concerns over several parts of the proposed plan that they see as loopholes that, in extreme cases, could still allow partisan congressional district rigging. Ultimately, most Democrats still supported the final language in the resolution.

“Democrats in the Ohio General Assembly are committed to ending gerrymandering once and for all. That’s why we agreed to join the redistricting working group in the first place, because bipartisanship should be the foundation of the redistricting process.

“Democrats are committed to requiring strong bipartisanship and stopping communities from being split apart to favor one party over another.

“Unfortunately, the Republican plan would only change the way a majority party could manipulate districts in the future. In fact, the GOP proposals would continue the problem of unfair congressional districts by writing gerrymandering into our state constitution.

“We want the citizens of Ohio to know that Democrats in the legislature remain dedicated to achieving meaningful reform. There is still time to negotiate and reach an agreement.”

In recent years, we have seen divisions emerge in our public debate. Partisan rancor spills from the halls of government to our homes, our classrooms and on our social media. We see demonstrations of hate in small towns and big cities and read profiles of self-proclaimed white nationalists in our newspapers. While this division reveals the many imperfections of America, like Dr. King, I do not believe it defines us.

House Democrats today voted in opposition to House Bill (HB) 380, a Republican-sponsored bill to deny workers’ compensation benefits to undocumented workers who get injured or killed on the job. The House passed the bill on a largely party-line vote.